Tour de France: Dumoulin wins stage 13 time trial in Pont-d'Arc

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With the previous day's attack on the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, which reportedly killed at least 84 people, it was a sombre day at stage 13 of the Tour de France. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) won the 37km time trial from Bourg-Saint-Andéol to Pont-d'Arc. He covered the lumpy course in 50:15, beating Chris Froome (Team Sky) by 1:03 and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) by 1:31.

It was Dumoulin's second stage victory at the Tour de France, after attacking his breakaway companions in the finale of stage 9 to Andorra, but he spoke about the day being both saddened by the incident in Nice and the tough decision the event and riders had in starting the stage.

"It was a just question whether we should race or not today," Dumoulin said. "In the end, it was a just decision to race because we can't let terrorists rule our lives in our society. It's terrible what happened and overshadows the day a lot. So you're speaking to a man with two sides to his face today. Of course I'm happy with the win, but at the same time my thoughts are with everyone involved in the horrific attacks in Nice."

Froome proved to be the strongest of the overall contenders and built his lead out to 1:47 over Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and 2:45 over Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange), who both put forth strong time trial performances.

Event officials changed the traditional podium presentation following the time trial in honour of the tragic attack in Nice. All jersey holders walked on stage together to display the jerseys and show their solidarity. There were no sponsors presented or podium music, only a moment of silence.

"I think it was good that we stand together," Froome said. "Things have been put into perspective here for us. Of course, I'm happy with how the time trial went, but really the atmosphere here is sad and everyone's hearts are with those affected down in Nice. It's a special place for me also, close to my home base, and I can't image what those people are going through down there."

More on this story:

• Tour de France stage 13 - Finish line quotes
• Tour de France: Stage 13 to be held as planned after Nice attack
• Tour de France stage 13 highlights - Video

Tour de France stage 13 highlights video

How it unfolded

Event staff, teams and riders at stage 13 of the Tour de France were saddened and in disbelief by the attack in Nice, many who have close ties to the city, where a lorry drove into the crowded street celebrations killing at least 84 and wounding an additional 202, while 25 are reported to be on life support and 52 in critical condition.

Event director Christian Prudhomme addressed security concerns but ultimately decided that the race must go on, saying, "The stage goes ahead, the Tour will continue in dignity. We will not give in to people who want to change our way of life."

Dumoulin commented on the decision to race the time trial following the attack, saying, "This morning I woke up with the terrible news from Nice, and it was a big question if the team would start. I think it was a good decision [to start], in general, these terrorists cannot decide our lives. I think it's good that we showed that we are the modern world and we don't say yes to these attacks."

And so the race continued on. The time trial was not underestimated as an opportunity for the overall contenders to gain (or lose) time on one another, and for the time trial specialists to pick up a stage win at the biggest race in the world.

The event was 37km, beginning with Bourg-Saint-Andéol and ending in La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc, routed along the Gorges de l'Ardèche on the banks of Rhône.

It was a challenging test with a seven-kilometre climb that started almost right off the ramp. It travelled up to the Plateau du Laoul and descended the Col du Serre into the gorge. The descent offered a technical component to the race, suited to the risk takers among the time triallists. Riders then climbed out of the gorge along a five-kilometre finish ascent to Pont-d'Arc.

Nelson Oliveira had initially posted the fastest time but that wouldn't last long as Dumoulin, who showed his capability in the mountains last year at the Vuelta a Espana, this year at the Giro d'Italia, and in Andorra this week, stormed through with a phenomenal time of 50:15, over a minute and half faster than Oliveira.

Dumoulin said he decided to use a disc wheel during the time trial, even with the 40-50 km/h gusts of wind. "If you want to win you have to take risks," he said. "The wind was difficult and hard to cope with, I could have ridden with a three-spoke wheel, and one moment was tricky and I almost went off the road, but in general it was a smooth ride."

The course was expected to be a challenge for the traditionally powerful time triallists like Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep), who ended up feeling disappointed with his time, which was 2:05 slower than Dumoulin.

"After two weeks, of course, every power output counts, maybe I was too tired from yesterday," Martin said. "A the top [of the climb] I felt good and as if I could really go, but I suffered on the climb. It's hard to analyse two weeks into the race. I think I was OK, but my power was maybe not the best. The wind was stronger than when I previewed the course in the morning. It's not an excuse but it's interesting to analyse."

All eyes were on the last 16 riders to roll off the starting ramp with the likes of Richie Porte and Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Daniel Martin (Etixx-QuickStep), Fabio Aru (Astana), Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) and yellow jersey Chris Froome (Team Sky).

Porte had a fast start, marked at ten seconds off of Dumoulin's time check at the top of the Côte de Bourg-Saint-Andéol (30.34km to go). Although Porte's opening times were quick he ended up losing just over three minutes to Dumoulin.

"I couldn't hear anything on the radio. It was so windy out there and I didn't know what the times were out there. It hurt like hell, to be honest, and yesterday, with the motorbike [crash on Mont Ventoux] doesn't help either. I'm a little bit sore. It's disappointing. I'm sure the race is not over yet."

Quintana also had a disappointing ride finishing 3:08 behind Dumoulin, but more importantly losing 2:05 to Froome.

Mollema, on the other hand, had a very strong performance posting the sixth fastest time at 1:57 behind Dumoulin, and calling it the "time trial of his life." The result stood out among the other general classification men.

As for Froome, he started out strong with the sixth best time at the first time check, 17 seconds slower than Dumoulin, and much faster than his GC rivals.

He continued to show that he was by far the best of the general classification riders on course. At the next time check he was 47 seconds slower than Dumoulin, but still even faster than his rivals.

There was no slowing down for Froome who finished second on the day 1:03 off of Dumoulin's stage-winning time, but far ahead of his direct competitors in the hunt for the yellow jersey.

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